# Schwarze Katze · Black Cat

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems: The Other Part

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/schwarze-katze. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/schwarze-katze.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/<line id>.m4a.

**1** Ein Gespenst ist noch wie eine Stelle,  
A ghost is still like a place
> A spectre, not a soul: das Gespenst means 'ghost, spectre, apparition', a shape that appears rather than a departed person (der Geist can mean both 'spirit' and 'mind'). noch here means 'still, even yet', modifying ist.

**2** dran dein Blick mit einem Klange stößt;  
against which your gaze strikes with a ringing sound;
> dran plus stoßen an: dran is a colloquial shortening of daran, a da-compound standing in for an plus the antecedent Stelle. The verb stoßen an, 'to bump, strike against', governs it: dein Blick stößt dran means 'your gaze strikes against it'.

**3** aber da an diesem schwarzen Felle  
but here, upon this black fur,
> an plus dative; the -e on Felle: an here marks a fixed location and takes the dative: diesem schwarzen Felle, 'on this black fur'. das Fell means an animal's 'coat, pelt, fur'. The extra -e on Felle is the old dative-singular ending, archaic but kept here for the rhyme with Stelle.

**4** wird dein stärkstes Schauen aufgelöst:  
your strongest seeing is dissolved:
> Passive with werden: wird ... aufgelöst is a present-tense passive: werden plus the past participle of auflösen, 'to dissolve, break up, undo'. das Schauen is the verb schauen, 'to gaze', made into a noun, 'seeing'.


**5** wie ein Tobender, wenn er in vollster  
as a raging man, when in his fullest
> A participle used as a noun: tobend is the present participle of toben, 'to rage, rave, storm'; declined like an adjective and capitalized, it becomes a noun, ein Tobender, 'a raging one'. The simile runs across the whole stanza.

**6** Raserei ins Schwarze stampft,  
frenzy stamps into the black,
> Adjective as neuter noun: ins Schwarze equals in das Schwarze, the adjective schwarz turned into a neuter noun, 'the black', after the accusative of motion in. stampft, from stampfen, 'to stamp, pound', with in plus the accusative, expresses charging headlong into it.

**7** jählings am benehmenden Gepolster  
abruptly, at the muffling padding
> An elevated word for abruptly: jählings is an elevated adverb meaning 'abruptly, all at once, headlong', related to jäh, 'sudden, steep'. das Gepolster means 'padding, upholstery'; benehmend, 'taking away, deadening', describes how it absorbs the blow. am equals an dem, dative after an.

**8** einer Zelle aufhört und verdampft.  
of a cell stops short and evaporates.
> aufhören and verdampfen: aufhören means 'to stop, cease, leave off'; verdampfen means 'to vaporize, evaporate'. einer Zelle is a genitive, 'of a cell', depending on Gepolster in the line above. Both verbs are third-person singular present, coordinated with und.


**9** Alle Blicke, die sie jemals trafen,  
All the glances that ever struck her,
> Relative clause; sie is the cat: die ... trafen is a relative clause modifying alle Blicke, 'all the glances'. die is the plural relative pronoun and subject; sie is the accusative object, referring to the cat. trafen is the simple past of treffen, 'to hit, meet, strike'.

**10** scheint sie also an sich zu verhehlen,  
she seems, then, to conceal upon herself,
> To conceal, literary: verhehlen is a literary verb for 'to conceal, hide, keep secret'. scheint ... zu verhehlen combines scheinen, 'to seem', with zu plus infinitive. an sich means 'on, about herself'; also here means the older 'thus, so', not English 'also'.

**11** um darüber drohend und verdrossen  
in order, over them, threatening and sullen,
> um ... zu across three lines: um opens a purpose clause, 'in order to ...', whose infinitives arrive two lines later. German lets the um ... zu frame stretch across a whole sentence. darüber means 'over it, about it'; drohend, 'threatening', and verdrossen, 'sullen', describe the mood.

**12** zuzuschauern und damit zu schlafen.  
to shudder at them and, with that, to sleep.
> To shudder: schauern means 'to shiver, shudder'; zuzuschauern is the zu-infinitive of zuschauern, carrying the um ... zu from earlier. It pairs with zu schlafen, 'to sleep', both infinitives completing the purpose clause.

**13** Doch auf einmal kehrt sie, wie geweckt,  
But all at once she turns, as if woken,
> wie plus past participle: wie geweckt compresses 'as though she had been woken' into two words. geweckt is the participle of wecken, 'to wake someone'. auf einmal is the fixed phrase 'all at once, suddenly'; kehren here means 'to turn'.

**14** ihr Gesicht und mitten in das deine:  
her face full into yours:
> mitten in plus accusative; das deine: mitten in, 'right into the middle of', takes the accusative for motion, as in mitten in das deine. das deine is the possessive pronoun standing for dein Gesicht, 'yours', meaning your face.

**15** und da triffst du deinen Blick im geelen  
and there you meet your own gaze in the yellow
> A dialect word for yellow: geel is a Low-German or regional form of gelb, 'yellow', chosen here to rhyme with verhehlen. du triffst deinen Blick uses treffen again, meaning 'you meet, encounter your own gaze'.

**16** Amber ihrer runden Augensteine  
amber of her round eye-stones
> A Rilke coinage: Augensteine, 'eye-stones', is a compound Rilke uses for the cat's eyes. ihrer ... Augensteine is genitive, 'of her eye-stones', depending on Amber, 'amber', in the same clause.

**17** unerwartet wieder: eingeschlossen  
unexpectedly again: enclosed
> einschließen becomes eingeschlossen: eingeschlossen is the past participle of einschließen, 'to lock in, enclose, encase'. It stands in apposition to deinen Blick, 'your gaze', from the line before, describing it as enclosed.

**18** wie ein ausgestorbenes Insekt.  
like an insect long extinct.
> Died out, extinct: ausgestorben means 'died out, extinct', the participle of aussterben, 'to die out'. It modifies ein Insekt, 'an insect', in the nominative neuter singular, agreeing with the noun that follows.

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Source text: public domain (Rainer Maria Rilke, died 1926; Neue Gedichte published 1907 and 1908), from Wikisource. English translation and notes: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC. Narration: synthesized for this edition.